The Monster in the Closet
by SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Will is dragged along to a meeting and a dinner with Hannibal and his pack of merry monsters. Dinner can't go smoothly, though, when Mason Verger insists on being a terrible person and also a terrible dumb ass. (one shot)


He knew he must keep very still while he waited if he didn't want to have his head suddenly torn right off of his body. No matter how many times he had come to one of these events, Will could never rid himself entirely of the fear that he would die here as all the monsters converged on him at the same time.

Though of course, Will was well aware of the fact that he would remain untouched by all of these monsters. Hannibal would never allow them to hurt Will. And since Hannibal seemed to be the one in charge, Will trusted, or at least wanted to believe, that Hannibal knew what he was talking about when he said that everything was fine.  
There was some confusion as to why Hannibal would bring him here, though. Maybe it was to show off his ranking in his pack. Or maybe it was just to be some kind of fun outing for them. Though if that were the case then Will really wished that Hannibal would have just let him pick the location for their next date.

Surely it couldn't just be Will who didn't enjoy being told to stand perfectly still while his lover was busy in a meeting if he wanted to prevent himself from being attacked. Will hated being in situations where he felt like he had no control over what was going to happen to him. And he could feel the way that the other monsters were eyeing him up, just waiting for him to make even the smallest wrong move so that they could whine to Hannibal about how their actions against him had been justified. Will wasn't planning on giving any of them any reason to attack him.

After what felt like a couple hundred years, Hannibal finally returned to the room, and slipped his arm around Will's shoulder in a very casual, yet possessive, manner. "Now that all of the business is out of the way, why don't we move on to dinner?"

Will was reluctant to go along with this, but he also knew from past experience that meals with these monsters were much more pleasant than the waiting around during meetings part. All of the other monsters who weren't yet old enough for meetings were also the ones who didn't always have complete control of themselves. But meals were for everyone, and the 'adults' would keep the younger ones in line. Not that it would be needed, with Hannibal's presence by his side.

Only because Will knew how much this meant to Hannibal, he followed the man over to his car and got into the passenger seat. All of the other monsters carpooled, cramming themselves into vehicles that weren't meant to hold more than four or five people at most. Nobody else got into Hannibal's car, though. He was their leader, and had earned the right to privacy and respect from the rest of them.

The ride back to Hannibal's house passed in silence. Hannibal was well aware of Will's discomfort of being invited along to these pack meetings, and knew better than to risk saying anything that would piss Will off enough for him to storm home.

The other monsters all knew well enough to drive slowly and take a few extra turns on their routes so that Hannibal and Will would be the first ones to reach the house by several minutes. It would give Hannibal the chance to finish with any last minute preparations that he needed for the food.

Will stayed off to one side, sipping occasionally from a glass of whiskey as he watched Hannibal move gracefully around the kitchen. This was a display of the man's true artistry, and it never ceased to amaze Will how Hannibal could be so incredible in this room. Not that he wasn't incredible elsewhere, but the kitchen was the place where he always took Will's breath away and made his heart rate pick up just a bit. It was especially amazing considering the fact that Hannibal had only recently gotten into cooking.

Well, 'recently' was a relative term. Will didn't even know how old Hannibal was, but he knew that it had to be at least a couple hundred years, if not more. And Hannibal had once confided in Will that back in the beginning of his existence, he had torn into his prey like a savage to eat raw flesh and drink warm blood, leaving behind carcasses that looked as though they had been attacked by wild animals. It hadn't been until technology and media had started getting more refined that Hannibal had decided to put more effort into covering his tracks, and into enjoying his catches.

It felt like hardly any time at all had passed before the doorbell rang. Since Hannibal was already preoccupied with whatever was simmering away on the stove top, Will set his glass down on the marble island and then headed towards the front door to let in the guests. They each gave him a respectful nod as they stepped inside, even the younger ones who would have gladly devoured him a couple of hours of them were rather anti-human overall, but they respected Will because he was Hannibal's mate, and they knew that their leader would never have chosen anything less than the best to call his own.

Once all seventeen members of the pack were inside, Will closed the door and followed the tail end of them to the dining room. They all stood behind their usual seats, chatting amongst themselves. By now Will was used to it, but earlier on he had always found it so odd to witness such bloodthirsty monsters talking about exchanging recipes, or where they bought a certain skirt, or how the children were doing in school.

And then everyone stopped talking immediately, leaving the room deadly silent as Hannibal stepped in, carrying an ornate silver serving platter, sweeping over to his seat at the head of the table. Only after he had sat down did everyone else follow suite. Hannibal set the dish down on the table, and it looked beautiful next to the other dishes that had already been laid out.

Just like always at these events, Hannibal made sure that his and Will's plates had plenty of food on them first before anyone else reached for the serving utensils. And once everyone had their food, they all leaned back in their seats and closed their eyes. Will didn't bother, since he knew he was not part of the strange communication the pack was able to hold with each other.

When their eyes all fluttered open a minute later, they were all a dark red, even the eyes of the kids that appeared no older than five or six years (though looks could be deceiving because they were actually around Will's age, if not older, and yet still considered children by the standards of their species). That's when they all began to take their first bites, making the appropriate noises and words of appreciation.

Hannibal preened in his seat, always so smug to receive praise for his hobby. Will remained silent as he dug into his own food. The first time they'd all gathered like this, with Will in attendance as well, Hannibal had made the mistake of serving Will some of the main course, and the argument that that had led to had been quite explosive. Will had had the decency to wait until the guests had gone home for the night, because he knew that even he couldn't get away with disrespecting Hannibal in front of the pack, but as soon as he'd gotten the opportunity, he had jumped down Hannibal's throat.

Ever since then, Hannibal had politely refrained from putting any of the main course on Will's plate. He would rather Will just eat all the other parts of the meal and stay content than have any big fuss made. And there was no point in wasting the meat. Will just couldn't stomach the idea of eating human flesh.

Such a thing didn't bother these monsters at all, since it was what was necessary for their continued survival, and they'd basically all been doing it for longer than Will had even been alive. He assumed that it was also easier for them because they were not human, which meant that they were not committing the same taboo cannibalism that Will would be if he were to partake.

Once everyone had eaten most of what was on their plates, the conversations from earlier resumed as if there had been no pause at all. Will mostly tuned it all out, thinking about the large stack of papers waiting for him on his desk at home that he still needed to grade before his students started rioting against him.

But he quickly focused back on the dinner when everyone went silent. They usually did that when Hannibal was walking into the room that they were all gathered in already, but since that wasn't the case here, Will couldn't deny being curious about what had caused that reaction. And it hadn't been the simultaneous silencing that it usually was, either. It had slowly petered off around the table instead.

Everyone seemed to be looking back and forth between Hannibal and a man, Mason Verger. She had the look of someone who knew they'd said something out of line, but were too proud to take it back, and now Will really wanted to know what had been said. It must be something pretty saucy for the others to all be looking at her like that.

It was Hannibal who broke the silence, when he cleared his throat and then finally spoke. "I can understand where there might be some confusion," he started in a pleasant enough voice. That was a voice that meant certain trouble for whoever it was being directed towards. "Allow me to clear it up for you. Whatever business there is between my mate and I has absolutely no bearing on you in any way. My mate and I are both private people who would prefer our relationship be treated with the respect that it deserves."

Will blinked a few times, and tried to mentally rewind through the past few minutes of chatter to see if he could figure out what Mason had said to cause that tight look on Hannibal's face. Mason had always been a rather crude and dislikeable person, but he understood the pecking order, and didn't want to risk losing Hannibal's protection or favor, because without either of those, the best case scenario was getting kicked out of the area.

But apparently Mason just didn't know when to quit, because instead of simply apologizing and moving on with his life, he opened his big mouth and kept talking. "I'm just saying that all of us have our concerns, Hannibal. You may be the leader of this pack, but just how long do you think that will last without an heir? If you cannot prove that you are alpha enough to sire children, then how do we know that you're really an alpha at all?"

The pleasant look didn't waver from Hannibal's face for even a moment, and everyone else seemed to understand that Mason was in big trouble. Somehow, Mason was the only one oblivious to that fact. Mason's younger sister Margot, who was sitting across the table with her mate, gave him a narrow eyed look that warned him to shut up.

Even Will could see that Mason had no respect for his own sister, and probably never listened to her about anything. He just gave Hannibal an almost smug look. "I'm just saying, if you can't even impregnate a human bitch to spawn some half-breeds, then how can you call yourself an alpha?"

Everyone at the table seemed to gasp almost as one. Generally, Hannibal was a pretty lenient and fair leader. The rules he had in place were all directly related to keeping the pack safe and off the human radar. And he was always willing to listen when any of the monsters had concerns or complaints to make. He was able to be flexible when needed, and there were rarely any problems. But one thing that was an absolute certainty, the spot where he really drew the line, was Will.

The first time Will had accompanied Hannibal to a pack meeting, everyone had started growling and snapping and generally acting like they wanted to eat Will alive. They threw accusations at Hannibal about putting them all at risk by letting a human see them as they were, in a place where they were always supposed to be able to feel safe.

One of the monsters, a man named Tobias Budge, had charged towards Will, ready to tear him into pieces. Hannibal had moved faster, and left Tobias dead where he stood. He had then declared in front of the entire pack that Will was his mate, and that he would never tolerate any harm coming to him. He said that all insults and prejudices against humans would be left at the door, at least when it came to Will.

Since Hannibal had always acted so superior to humans, everyone had been surprised to hear such a bold declaration from him. They had all remained uneasy throughout the meeting, and Will had felt on edge as he waited, unmoving, with the children of the pack. At the end of the meeting, Will had grabbed Hannibal to pull him aside, not realizing that all of the monsters had heightened senses that allowed them to witness the discussion. He petulantly demanded that he not be brought to another one of these meetings again because he hated feeling so unsafe.

Hannibal had told him that he didn't have to return if he was truly opposed to the idea. But then he cheated by saying how much he wanted Will to be there, to prove that Will was really the one he had chosen, and to let the others all see how amazing Will was. Hearing how genuine Hannibal sounded about it, the other monsters had reluctantly agreed to give Will a chance.

Now he spent most of the meetings in the actual meeting room with the adults, but they often had to send him away near the end to discuss pack business that just could not be shared with an outsider, regardless of his relationship with their leader. And Will had eventually gotten interested in the going ons of the pack. The only part of the meetings he truly hated was the end, because being alone outside with all the children always made him feel (rather rationally) uncomfortable.

So for Mason to say something like that, for him to blatantly insult both Hannibal and Will within the same breath, everyone knew that there was no way he would walk away from this dinner in one piece. The only real question was whether Hannibal would make it quick or slow, and that probably depended on whether he would be foolish enough to say anything else.

And of course, he was. "Let's be serious here, Hannibal. You need to get over this temporary fixation of yours and find yourself a pureblood to mate with. Someone who can give you pure babies to continue your line. It's not as if a human has any chance of living longer than a few years anyways, so giving him so much energy and attention is just a waste of your own time. My sister, on the other hand, happens to be a fully equipped baby maker, and she hasn't pumped herself full of drugs to damage it. I don't know why so many humans these days insist on parading around in dress up, but it is of no matter. What does matter is finding you someone to bear your children."

Will clenched his teeth, but it was Margot's mate, Alana, who suddenly spoke up. "What makes you think that you have any right to whore out your sister? She is a grown woman fully capable of making her own choices and being with whoever she wants!"

Mason chuckled, as if Alana had just said something very amusing. "Dear girl, I do like you, but it's not as if you and Margot could ever stay together long term. Both of you have a responsibility to keep our species and our pack alive, and you cannot do that if you continue to delude yourselves into thinking that you're 'in love' with each other."

Will glanced at Hannibal. The pleasant look, and all traces of amusement, were entirely gone. There was just a smooth mask of indifference there, hiding the fury that had to be boiling up inside of him. Hannibal was fond of both Margot and Alana, and for Mason to insult them, on top of what he'd already said about Will and Hannibal, surely meant that Mason wasn't long for this world.

He arched one eyebrow, and inclined his head just the slightest bit towards Mason. If Hannibal was surprised, he didn't mention it. Instead, he gave a very shallow nod. With Hannibal's approval on his side, Will grabbed the knife from his plate and got to his feet, and walked slowly towards Mason. Mason scoffed. "That's adorable. As if you could actually-" Will jammed the knife into Mason's throat before the man could keep talking.

Then he pulled the knife out and let Mason bleed freely for a few seconds before stabbing it back in again. He could feel the specks of blood splash across his face, and noted with some annoyance that some of it got onto his glasses. "Hannibal always keeps real silver at the table," Will said in a calm voice. "The fake stuff rusts too easily and looks cheap." It wouldn't be enough to kill Mason, but it would definitely weaken him a great deal, and cause a lot of pain for him.

He left the knife in there, and then walked back over to his seat, moving with the casual air of someone who was in no particular rush. He picked up his napkin, intending to dab the blood off of his face, but Hannibal quickly reached out to grab Will's wrist and stop him. "You look exquisite," he breathed out softly. Then he looked over at Alana and Margot for a moment. "You have my permission to do whatever you feel is necessary with him. I have no desire to see him in my territory again, alive or dead."

Margot and Alana exchanged a look that seemed to contain an entire conversation between them. Then Alana spoke up. "He was right about us continuing the line."

Hannibal nodded. "Whatever you feel is necessary," he repeated. Then he stood up, still holding Will's wrist. "The rest of you are welcome to remain and finish your meals, but my mate and I will be excusing ourselves." Then he pulled Will out of the dining room and to the stairs.

At first, Will thought they'd go to the bathroom so that he could get cleaned up, but then he was pulled into the bedroom instead. He rolled his eyes. "You kinky bastard," he told Hannibal fondly.

"You look too beautiful like this for me to not take advantage of it," Hannibal responded before pushing Will down onto the bed. "You are so very precious to me. I hope you know that I have no wish to ever replace you."

Will shivered at the earnestness in Hannibal's voice. He knew that if anyone was capable of finding a way for a human to cheat death, it would be Hannibal. But that would be a conversation for some other time. Instead, Will pulled Hannibal on top of him to give the man a deep kiss, getting blood in Hannibal's hair as he reached up to cup the back of Hannibal's head. "I love you," he whispered.

The grin that Hannibal gave him was nearly overwhelming. It was still hard to believe that he'd let himself get involved with such a dangerous man- no, monster. And yet he wouldn't give this up for the world.


End file.
